Stevie Nicks ~ PNC Arena ~ March 19, 2017 ~ Raleigh, North Carolina
Stevie Nicks’ 24 Karat Gold Tour made a stop in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 19 at a packed PNC Arena. She brought along some pretty impressive friends to open up the show for her in Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. It’s pretty rare to get such a pairing like this it had the crowd very excited for the opportunity to see two great acts together on the same bill. It was a very interesting night of music with some left dazed and confused, while others were wowed by what they heard. If that just confused you, then I will try my best to explain it all to you.
The Pretenders delivered an awesome set that was full of classic tracks such as “Message of Love,””Back on the Chain Gang,””I’ll Stand By You” and of course “Brass In Pocket.” The band sounded amazing and Hynde proved once again that she is still a bad-ass. After a quick changeover, the houselights went down and “Destination Unknown” by Missing Persons began to play over the speakers. The band soon took to the stage and last, but not least, Nicks herself. I remember reading at the beginning of the tour that it would be a night full of rarities, B-sides and other treasures along with some of the hits. Nicks opened with “Gold and Braid” which was an unused track off of her Bella Donna album. It was later included in a deluxe version of the album released by Rhino in 2016. I think the song set the tone for what the evening was going to be about and I will admit that it was met with mixed reactions.
I think that a good majority of the crowd was there to hear the hits and Nicks did deliver some of throughout the set. “If Anyone Falls,” “Gypsy,” “Stand Back,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Rhiannon” and a few others did make their way into the set and the crowd stood on their feet for those. Hynde even joined Nicks on-stage and took over Tom Petty’s part on her hit “Stop Dragging My Heart Around.” As for the majority of the rest of the set, the crown sat and listened and applauded after each. Yet, many lacked the enthusiasm that they seemed to have when the hits were played. Now, before I start getting some negative comments from people, there were many who enjoyed the other songs in the set and you could easily pick them out in the crowd. I actually loved the other songs that she performed and the stories that she told about them, even though some of the stories were a bit long. It was cool to hear tracks such as the title cuts off of her Wild Heart and Bella Donna albums which rarely, if ever, get played in a concert setting.
It’s rare these days to get completely lost in a performance at a concert due to so many distractions such as the people making beer runs during songs and those who have to record everything on their phones instead of living in the moment. Those things tend to get in my way, as well as others, at a show and can be a distraction. I will admit that I found myself completely captivated by her performance of “New Orleans” as well as “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream).” The stage, the lighting and the images on the projection screen were all keys parts in making these stories told by Nicks ascend to a rather remarkable level. It’s an art form that’s in short supply in today’s industry and that’s the art of storytelling in a song. Yes, there are some artists who are out there today who are keeping this art alive, but it is in rare supply. Nicks gave us all a reminder during this show why she is one of the best at what she does.
Overall, I thought it was exceptionally good, even though the song selections were lost on quite a few. I can understand people showing up for a concert and expecting to hear nothing but the hits, but that just wasn’t the format of this tour. I would hope that many of those in attendance actually did give the songs that they were unfamiliar with a fair listen. I was beyond pleasantly surprised with a few of them that I was not familiar with, thus making me a new fan of those tracks. I think artists like Nicks need to do shows like this rather than just take the stage night after night cranking out hit after hit and then off to the next city to do that same thing again.
Check out pix from Stevie Nicks’ show at The PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 19, 2017. Click on each image for a larger view!
http://www.immusicmag.com/2017/03/st...orth-carolina/